Northfield, VT- The Norwich University women's basketball team eased by the Lasell College Lasers, Wednesday night, 78-51, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action. The league-leading Cadets are now 6-1 in the GNAC, while the Lasers drop to 2-5.
The Lasers dug in for a close first half before the Cadets turned the relatively close game in their favor. Lasell scored the first three points of the contest on a Kim Archibald (Lewiston, ME) lay-up and a Reegan Bracket (Scarborough, ME) free throw, but eight unanswered points by the Cadets turned the tables by the 14:46 mark. Five points by Katie Farr (Rindge, NH) spurred a 7-0 run by Lasell, and a 10-8 lead, less than two minutes later.
After two more lead changes and one tie, the hosts went on a 13-2 spurt to move ahead of the Lasers 25-14 with five minutes left in the half. Another Brackett bucket in the paint got the Lasers within eight points of the Cadets, but Norwich ended the half with a 12-3 stretch to hold a 17 point edge at the break, 37-20.
The iron was not kind to the Lasers, who shot just 26% in the first half. Farr and Brittany Jefferies (Medford, MA) each pitched in six points in the first for Lasell. Farr also grabbed five rebounds in the half. The Cadets had a much easier time finding the hoop, shooting nearly 40% from the field.
Norwich opened the second half with another significant run, 14-2, to pull ahead 51-22 within four minutes. Despite shooting largely better in the half, at 40%, the Lasers could not get any closer than within twenty points of the home team before the final buzzer secured the Cadets fourth successive victory.
Brackett scored seven second half points and finished with ten total points in the game. Farr matched her six first half points with six additional in the final period for a team-high 12 points. Also pitching in for Lasell were Kelsey Converse (Laconia, NH) and Tricia Culver (Northampton, MA). Converse notched nine points and four rebounds while Culver added seven points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Lasell returns to action on Saturday, February 6th for a GNAC match with Suffolk University. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m.